Kim Kardashian is an American TV personality and socialite. It's part of her 'work' to flaunts her wealth and flamboyant lifestyle. It's also part of her 'duties' to showoff.
Thanks to her own TV series, the Keeping Up with the Kardashians, and also social media networks, the Kardashian family, and Kim Kardashian in particular, can deliver that 'message' to millions of people around the world.
Not only that the approach earned Kim a lot of supports and haters, as flaunting her wealth also earned her an experience of being robbed.
And that unfortunate moment happened back in 2016.
At that time, robbers managed to take her jewelry worth millions of dollars, and got away with them.
Yunice Abbas, one of 12 elderly men arrested for the burglary in which the second eldest sibling in the Kardashian family was bound and gagged at gunpoint, said that he felt no guilt over the crime.
He said that "she was throwing money away, I was there to collect it."
The band of thieves, now known as the 'grandpa robbers', robbed Kim from her $10 million worth of jewelry from her luxurious suite in Hotel de Pourtalès.
"Guilty? No, I don't care," Abbas said.
Abbas, who wrote the memoir I Kidnapped Kim Kardashian, said that it was social media that helped him and his fellow robbers keep tabs on Kardashian's jewels, including the $4 million, 20-carat Lorraine Schwartz engagement ring she received from Kanye West.
"I went on the internet, and it's true, I saw her jewelry, I saw her ring, I saw that she showed it everywhere, and we knew this information through social media," said Abbas, who also cited an episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians in which the TV personality lost a diamond in the water.
"She's got a lot of money. This lady doesn't care at all."
Abbas confirmed that the idea to rob Kim sparked after seeing Kim repeatedly flaunt her jewelry on social media.
And at that time, Kim was with her possession and in Paris, ahead of the Paris Fashion Week.
Abbas who shared the details of the robbery, said that the Kardashian's 'secretary' attempted to call help, but dialed 911 despite being in France
"Madame Kardashian’s secretary called for help. But she called 911 in the United States, which scared us, which made them lose a lot of time," he claimed. "And when we got out, there was a bunch of police outside who didn’t know anything about the robbery,” he said.
Abbas said that his duties at the time was staying downstairs to keep guard while his co-conspirators robbed Kardashian in her suite.
"They should be a little less showy towards people who can't afford it," said Abbas, when asked about celebrities posting about their valuables online.
As for Kim herself, she once said that the experience of being robbed has left her so "paranoid" for a year, that she would have to have "half a dozen" guards constantly posted at her home.
Five years after the robbery, in 2021, she said that she was still scared by the incident, that she no longer keeps any jewelry at home, or even in a safe.
She insisted "no expensive items ever come" to her home.
"As far as jewelry, if I'm wearing something, it's borrowed or it's fake."
Hotel de Pourtalès, the historic building in Paris where the robbery happened, only has nine apartments. The smallest occupies less than 100m2, whereas the largest at around 350m2 where the Kardashians stayed, is considered the "the Sky Penthouse," located at the top floor.
The luxurious suite has a 60m2 bedroom with dressing room and en suite bathroom, two guest rooms with their own bathroom, and a fully equipped galley kitchen. It also has a 90m2 rooftop terrace, with private garden, and a 180° view of Paris.
The 19th-century neo-Renaissance building is located near the famed L'église de la Madeleine Catholic church, and also not far from the epicenter of Paris Fashion week.
At the time, the hotel was considered the No Address Hotel because the address is a secret. It had no website, published no flyers, and provided no telephone number.
At that time, the only way was to use the old and classical word to mouth system, delivered to celebrities through their managers.
When she was robbed, her sisters, Kendall Jenner and Kourtney Kardashian, as well as the bodyguard, were at a nearby club.
Twelve people ended up being arrested for the crime, including Abbas.
Abbas was arrested because he left his DNA.
"I left my DNA. As I already had a record, it was very easy to trace me," Abbas recalled.
Abbas and 11 other people were arrested in connection with the robbery. Abbas served 22 months in prison before being released for health reasons.
"You don’t come out of it unscathed," Abbas acknowledged, after he was asked about how he feels for the emotional trauma he caused Kardashian.
"Of course she must have been traumatized."
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